Iam very blessed with a loving

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1 HE LEADS i follow Postulant Entrance Darby s Vocation Story. Iam very blessed with a loving and devout Catholic family. My parents instilled in me from a very young age the importance of Mass, learning my faith, and growing in prayer. I was blessed to attend Catholic school, and it was during high school that God first placed the idea of religious life upon my mind. During freshman year, I read St. Thérèse s Story of a Soul. Her beautiful, simple way of loving struck me and caused me to wonder if this could be a way that God was calling me to love. As my relationship with God grew, the idea of religious life became a persistent question on my mind. Despite this persistency, I had already been accepted to college and so off I went to Oklahoma s East Central University. Darby Heard with her family on the day of Postulant Entrance. East Central is by no means a Catholic university. I was the only Catholic that many of my friends knew. While it was a challenge, this helped me to grow in my faith and really live up to and fully embrace my Catholic identity. We had no Catholic program, so during my sophomore year, a friend and I began organizing Campus Ministry. Often times we only had three or four students at our meetings, but we were a very close knit group of kindred spirits seeking to love God and grow in holiness together. It was in this environment that the desire for religious life came flooding back to my mind and quickly became the question of my heart. At first I stubbornly resisted God and was even angry with Him. Yet as I knelt before the crucifix asking Him what He wanted of me, I could distinctly hear Him say, consecrate yourself to Me. The following summer, I had the opportunity to study at Notre Dame. Looking up religious orders in the area, I first found our Sisters. A year later, I came on a discernment retreat. As I visited, I quickly fell in love with the charism of adoration and was deeply struck by the palpable joy and love of the Sisters. During the next year, God kept bringing my mind back to Mishawaka. There was a sense of peace and a sense of home which I felt when visiting, and in the end there was nowhere else I wanted to go. I became a postulant on September 2, F ALL WHAT S INSIDE THIS ISSUE Final Vows Sisters Celebrate Their Jubilee University of Saint Francis Chapel Dedication Our Life in Pictures 1515 W. DRAGOON TRAIL P.O. BOX 766 MISHAWAKA, IN

2 IN-FORMATION Sister M. Regina DeVreese and Sister M. Joan Roeder renewed their vows for two years on July 31. Congratulations to Sister Mary Peter Ruschke, Sister Zélie Marie Warrell, and Sister Mary Amata Naville, who received the habit and their religious names at the Investiture ceremony on August 1. We rejoice with Sister M. Evangeline Rutherford who professed first vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience on August 1. Sister Magdalena, the General Superior, signs the vows of Sister M. Ignatia at the altar. Bishop Hying says a special prayer of blessing over the final professed. Bishop Donald Hying of the Diocese of Gary celebrated the Mass for Perpetual Profession of Vows on August 2nd, the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels of the Portiuncula. Congratulations Sister M. Lucia Richardson, Sister M. Ignatia Henneberry, Sister Mary Grace Richey, and Sister Maria Faustina Herber!

3 Jubilee O n October 6, 2018, we celebrated the religious anniversaries of six of our Sisters. During the Mass celebrated by Bishop Kevin Rhoades, these Sisters renewed their vows and received the grace of jubilee. We pray that these graces will continue to flow in their own hearts and the hearts of all those they serve. Congratulations, Sisters! Sister M. Suzanne Clark, 50 Years: As a Sister of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration for fifty years, God is ever faithful to His promises. I am deeply grateful for the unmerited gift of God s extravagant love. All is grace. Sister M. Felicity Dorsett, 50 Years: Fifty years as a Sister of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration is an amazing gift, L. to R,: Sr. M. Helen, Sr. M. Duane, Bishop Rhoades, Sr. M. Dorothy, Sr. M. Felicity, Sr. M. Suzanne totally undeserved. It is a gift that God gives continuously, day by day. I have great cause for gratefulness and praise. Thank you, God, for my life! Sister M. Helen Minich, 60 Years: To be a Sister of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration for 60 years means I have grown greatly in my love for God, my Franciscan family, and all I value in life. The special gifts I receive daily enable me to appreciate the values I learned as a child. Sister M. Dorothy Speckhals, 60 Years: My heart is filled with gratitude and joy as I reflect on these past 60 years. God has filled my life with His Love, His graces, and His blessings. My spirit rejoices in God my Savior He has done great things in me. Sister M. Duane Anckenbruck, 60 Years: I am speechless when I realize He has chosen me to serve Him. Sister M. Michael Ann Durrer, 75 Years: Sr. Michael Ann s beautiful smile brightens the days of those around her. She radiates a peace through her quiet presence that comes from 75 years of loving and being loved by our Eucharistic Lord. Clockwise from top left: Sr. Michael Ann Durrer, Renewing vows, Sr. Suzanne and her nephew, Sr. Duane and family, and celebrating the Sisters.

4 SOURCE H opes and Dreams at the Center of Campus: USF Chapel Dedication Our dream has become a reality! The long-awaited chapel at the center of the University of Saint Francis campus was dedicated, the altar was consecrated, and a relic of St. Francis was placed in the altar on October 3, 2018, the feast of the Transitus of St. Francis of Assisi. On this beautiful autumn day, a crowd of more than 250 celebrated the Dedication of the Oratory of St. Francis with Bishop Kevin Rhoades. As the sunshine poured into the chapel from the angular spaces in this beautiful architectural edifice and as the incense was used to raise our hearts and minds heavenward, AND everyone joined the University Singers and the USF Brass Quintet in singing thanksgiving praises to the Lord. During his homily, Bishop Rhoades reminded us that the chapel is at the center of this campus. We can present our hopes and dreams, our pains and sorrows to the Lord. This oratory is God s dwelling, a house of prayer and home for His spirit. As the Psalmist sings to the Lord, How lovely is your dwelling place (Ps 84). Jesus is God-with-us, and He wants to be with us. His Eucharistic presence in the new St. Francis Chapel brings Him into the midst of our students, who, knowingly or not, walk by Him every day. Having the chapel in the heart of the campus reflects above all Jesus SUMMIT desire to be with us and to be in the middle of our daily lives. Behind the main altar, an adoration chapel provides a more intimate space for prayer. Exposition occurs there on Tuesdays 7:30-10pm. All students and employees will have 24-hour access with their ID cards to the adoration chapel for prayer. We are forever grateful to all our benefactors and friends who have helped make this chapel a reality. Our Lord cannot be outdone in generosity. May He, indeed, grant His blessings and graces upon all!

5 In Pictures Bishop Rhoades celebrated Mass and blessed the graves at the cemetery of St. Francis Convent on November 2, 2018.While funeral Masses were sometimes celebrated here in the late 1940s, it has been decades since a Mass has been celebrated at that site. On October 3, several Sisters participated in the Celebration of Life Prayer Service held at Franciscan Health Dyer Campus. Students from Catholic schools in Northwest Indiana and South Chicago Suburbs, including Sister M. Rose Hasser and Sister M. Eileen Joyce with their students from St. Casimir School in Hammond, joined Bishop Donald Hying and others to pray for a greater respect for life at all stages, especially the unborn. decorating pumpkins! Sr. M. Louise Pfeifer.

6 1515 W. Dragoon Trail P.O. Box 766 Mishawaka, IN Return Service Requested Mission Statement We, the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration, participate in the mission of the Roman Catholic Church by living the Gospel after the example of Saint Francis and our foundress, Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel. We strive to combine the contemplative life with the active through perpetual adoration and the works of mercy in education, healthcare, and other ecclesial ministries. Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration